What you need to know
- Destiny 2: The Final Shape is officially delayed to June 4, 2024, pushing the expansion back from its original February release window.
- This news confirms a prior report, in which Bloomberg indicated both The Final Shape and Marathon were being delayed.
- In the lead-up to The Final Shape, Bungie is releasing additional content for the game called Destiny 2: Into the Light, as well as including new PvP maps.
Destiny 2's next big expansion is delayed, and this time it's official.
The news comes from Bungie, confirming the report from Bloomberg weeks ago that indicated both Destiny 2: The Final Shape and the upcoming title Marathon were delayed following the studio choosing to lay off around 100 employees. While The Final Shape DLC was previously meant to launch in February 2024, it will now be set for June 4, 2024.
What is coming to Destiny 2 in the meanwhile?
With the expansion pushed back by four months, Bungie is extending Season of the Wish, which will now run all the way until The Final Shape arrives. The developer is also working on a content drop of sorts that will arrive in April, meaning players won't be waiting as long to have something new.
Titled Destiny 2: Into the Light, this content pack will also be accompanied by some new PvP (player vs. player) maps. Speaking on what to expect from the expansion itself, Destiny 2 game director Joe Blackburn acknowledged the extremely high expectations, while teasing that "I'm gonna be honest, we've been holding some cards close to our chest on this one, and I'm gonna ask that you bear with us for a little bit longer," adding that gameplay will be shown in April 2024.
When will Marathon arrive?
While Bungie has not discussed Marathon's release date publicly, the report from Jason Schreier at Bloomberg indicated that the game was originally set to launch in 2024 and has now been delayed to 2025. Even though Bungie is owned by Sony and helps assist with PlayStation Studios' live service plans, the developer continues to operate as a multiplatform publisher, meaning that Marathon is coming to Xbox Series X|S, Windows PC, and PlayStation 5.
Analysis: Expected news, but curious timing
Nothing here is surprising, as Jason Schreier's track record speaks for itself and there was no reason for anyone to ever expect the delay wasn't going to happen, any thought otherwise was just silly. That said, it is curious that Bungie decided to wait until now to confirm the delay. Usually when those kinds of reports break, it doesn't take as long for the news to pan out.
Regardless, I truly hope this pans out well and Destiny 2's Light vs. Dark story arc can end on an extremely high note.
